The Conversation -- April 7, 2025

Joe Rennison, et al., of the New York Times: “Wall Street weathered another chaotic day of trading on Monday, with false reports about a potential tariff reprieve briefly sending stocks higher before the White House rebuffed the idea and brought the prospects of a severe economic downturn back to the forefront. The S&P 500 swung from a loss of as much as 4.7 percent, to a gain of as much as 3.4 percent in morning trading, the biggest intraday swing for the S&P 500 since March 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic. Volatility surged. The CBOE Vix Volatility index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, also rose to levels last seen during the pandemic-induced sell-off in March 2020. The S&P 500 ended the day with a drop of 0.2 percent and 17.6 percent below its February peak. The index is on the precipice of a bear market — a rare marker of extreme market pessimism when stocks fall 20 percent from their peak. The overarching concern for investors hasn’t changed. They are worried that steep tariffs imposed by the United States on huge swaths of imports, and the tit-for-tat response from China and other countries, will sink global growth and fuel inflation.”

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “After Trump’s victory in November, Peter Berezin, chief global strategist at BCA Research..., estimated that the chance of a recession had climbed to 75 percent. 'The prospect of an escalation of the trade war is likely to depress corporate investment while lowering real household disposable income,' said a BCA report. The surprising thing isn’t that Berezin saw the Trump tariff crisis coming, but that so many of his peers didn’t.... [Why?] People in finance, said Berezin, are more likely to be punished for being too cautious and pessimistic than for being too hopeful and aggressive.... Some investors also felt a cultural affinity with the new administration that further clouded their judgment. [That is, they hate 'wokeness.']”

Justin Jounvenal & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Monday removed a temporary block on the Trump administration’s use of a controversial wartime authority to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, ruling the five immigants who challenged the policy did so in the wrong court. 'The detainees are confined in Texas, so venue is improper in the District of Columbia,' the justices wrote of the challenge in U.S. District Court in D.C. 'As a result, the Government is likely to succeed on the merits of this action.' The 5-4 ruling did not touch on the underlying legal questions of the challenge. It leaves open the possibility the migrants could refile their case in Texas or other jurisdictions where they are detained. But for now, it opens the door for the Trump administration to deport more Venezuelan migrants under the act, although it also said the government must give prospective deportees notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal. And it appears to take the central legal issues of the case away from U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, whose temporary restraining order blocking the deportations prompted impeachment calls from Trump and his allies. The court’s three liberal justices dissented, joined in part by Justice Amy Coney Barrett....

“The ACLU called the justices’ ruling that migrants are entitled to challenge the government’s claim that they are gang members 'a huge victory.' 'We are disappointed that we will need to start the court process over again in a different venue but the critical point is that the Supreme Court said individuals must be given due process to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act,' lead ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement.” Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Notwithstanding the ACLU's brave face, now would be a good time to scroll on down to the Comments and read Akhilleus' recitation on James Madison's & Montesquieu's opinions on all that. Madison, citing Montesquieu, wrote in Federalist No. 47, "‘Were the power of judging ... joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor.’” Ain't it something that Madison foresaw the predilections of the Great Oppressor AND the Supreme Boys way back 237 years ago, and Montesquieu saw them coming 40 years before that. It does seem that plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. ~~~

~~~ AND There's This. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Monday temporarily blocked a trial judge’s order directing the United States to return a Salvadoran migrant it had inadvertently deported. The chief justice, acting on his own, issued an 'administrative stay,' an interim measure meant to give the justices some breathing room while the full court considers the matter. The order came just hours after the administration asked the court to block the trial judge’s order instructing the government to return the migrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, by 11:59 p.m. on Monday. Judge Paula Xinis of the Federal District Court in Maryland had said the administration committed a 'grievous error' that 'shocks the conscience' by sending Mr. Abrego Garcia, to a notorious prison in El Salvador last month.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, it seems there are consciences and consciences. Looks as if CJ Johnnie's conscience is not easily shocked. Apply Montesquieu Rule here.

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John Melloy & Tanaya Macheel of CNBC: "U.S. stocks were slammed for a third day on Monday as the White House remained defiant even after ... Donald Trump’s rollout of shockingly high tariff rates on most key U.S. trading partners has caused a market meltdown.... The Dow Jones Industrial average tumbled 1,363 points, or 3.5%, following back-to-back 1,500 point losses for the first time ever Thursday and Friday.... The S&P 500 dropped 4%, further into bear territory, as investors sold their tech winners to raise cash. The Nasdaq is off 26% from its high. Trump’s initial unilateral 10% tariff went into effect Saturday. Investors were hoping for news over the weekend that the Trump administration was having successful negotiations with countries to lower the tariff rates, or at the very least, was considering delaying the set of so-called reciprocal tariffs due to take effect April 9. Instead the president and his key advisors played down the sell-off." ~~~

     ~~~ Here are New York Times updates. ~~~

~~~ Christian Shepherd, et al., of the Washington Post: “Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific and Europe were trading sharply lower on Monday and the S&P 500 was expected to drop again, extending the sell-off triggered by President Donald Trump’s global trade war.... Trump administration officials spent the weekend defending the president’s tariffs on almost all trading partners after major Wall Street indexes continued to fall Friday, when China announced an additional 34 percent in levies on U.S. goods — matching what Trump billed as his 'Liberation Day' increase. CNBC has updates here. ~~~

~~~ Adriana Licon & Fatima Hussein of the AP: “... Donald Trump said Sunday that he won’t back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the U.S., digging in on his plans to implement the taxes that have sent financial markets reeling, raised fears of a recession and upended the global trading system. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he didn’t want global markets to fall, but also that he wasn’t concerned about the massive sell-off either, adding, 'sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.' His comments came as global financial markets appeared on track to continue sharp declines once trading resumes Monday, and after Trump’s aides sought to soothe market concerns by saying more than 50 nations had reached out about launching negotiations to lift the tariffs.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I heard only a few seconds of Trump's remarks aboard AF1. He wasn't talking about the markets. He was telling a reporter to get her head out of the way of a camera shot of him.

Dean Obeidallah on Substack searches for the reasons Trump is bringing down the U.S. economy. Among the reasons proferrered: (1) Trump reckons he will get richer; (2) 'cause Putin told him to (Obeidallah includes some of the "logic" behind Trump's obedience to Putin); and (3) what Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) lays out in a series of Bluesky tweets here. MB: I think you should take seriously this speculation. Or come up with some theories of your own. As Obeidallah writes, "You don’t need a PhD in Economics to understand that when an economy is slowing, cutting federal spending, causing massive layoffs and wildly increasing taxes by way of tariffs are a recipe for financial disaster[.]" Thank you to laura h. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Murphy wrote, in part, "He [Trump] is using access to government funds to bully universities, law firms and state and local governments into loyalty pledges." This is obvious, but the use of the word "access" brought home to me that Trump & Musk are causing the federal government to destroy itself. The "enemy within," indeed. Or maybe "autocannibalism." Kinda like if I opened a restaurant called "Health Hazard," and put a sign on the door pledging to spit in your soup & reuse dirty utensils.

Graig Graziosi of the Independent: “Elon Musk has continued to take jabs at Trump officials defending the president's new tariffs.... Musk has lost just over $30bn since Trump announced his tariffs.... That loss and continuing volatility may explain why Musk has been taking pot shots at Trump officials like U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and one of the architects of the president's tariff plan, Peter Navarro.

That may end up being the most enduring image of the Trump presidency, that is, the president out on a golf cart while people's retirement is in flames. -- Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), on "Meet the Press" Sunday 

Get your ass off the golf course and face the people! -- Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), at a Hands Off! rally in Washington, D.C., Saturday ~~~

~~~ Our Nero. John Helton of ABC News: "As markets braced for another meltdown triggered by ... Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, Democrats hammered the president for spending the weekend golfing rather than responding to Americans' fears that their retirement accounts are plummeting with the markets. Trump left Washington, D.C., for Florida on Thursday to attend a LiV Golf Tournament dinner ahead of a tournament at his Doral club in Florida. On Saturday and Sunday, he played in a club championship at his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter."

⭐Cecilia Vega of CBS News: "Three weeks ago, 238 Venezuelan migrants were flown from Texas to a maximum security prison in El Salvador. That country's president offered to take them and the Trump administration used a law not invoked since World War II to send them -- claiming they are all terrorists and violent gang members. The government has released very little information about the men. But through internal government documents, we have obtained a list of their identities and found that an overwhelming majority have no apparent criminal convictions or even criminal charges.... Among them: a makeup artist, a soccer player and a food delivery driver, being held in a place so harsh that El Salvador's justice minister once said the only way out is in a coffin.... At least 22% of the men on the list have criminal records here in the United States or abroad. The vast majority are for non-violent offenses like theft, shoplifting and trespassing. About a dozen are accused of murder, rape, assault and kidnapping. For 3% of those deported, it is unclear whether a criminal record exists. But we could not find criminal records for 75% of the Venezuelans - 179 men- now sitting in prison." ~~~

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “The Trump administration committed a 'grievous error' that 'shocks the conscience' by inadvertently deporting a Salvadoran migrant to a notorious prison last month and then declaring there was little it could do to bring him back, a federal judge in Maryland said on Sunday. The strongly worded order by the judge, Paula Xinis,..., offered a more detailed explanation of a brief ruling she issued on Friday, demanding that the White House bring the migrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, back to the United States by the end of Monday. And it rejected a request by the Justice Department to pause the order as a federal appeals court considered its validity. Over 22 pages, Judge Xinis took Trump officials to task for deporting Mr. Abrego Garcia to El Salvador on March 15 in violation of a previous court order that allowed him to stay in the United States. Administration officials then argued that neither they nor she as the judge overseeing the case had any power to retrieve him from the prison.” The linked order is to a federal court webpage, so is not firewalled. The AP report is here.

Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News: “A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration had violated his order to halt sweeping freezes to federal funding by withholding Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to at least 19 states. It seemed to be a 'covert' effort to punish states with so-called sanctuary laws for immigrants, the judge said. In March, U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued a preliminary injunction in favor of 23 states that sued the government over its plan to implement a broad pause to state aid. The Barack Obama appointee ruled that the plan 'fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government,' and ordered the Trump administration to 'immediately end any funding pause' until further notice. But on Friday, McConnell found the Trump administration in breach of the court’s order. At least 19 states — all with Democratic attorney generals, and all of which had sued to stop the funding cuts — 'presented undisputed evidence' that they were not receiving congressionally approved FEMA funding from the federal government, the judge ruled.” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Do bear in mind that the failure to follow the court's order is not just as oopsie! Rather, it's part of "a full-scale attack on democracy" and move toward autocracy, as Paul Blumenthal lays out in his HuffPost column linked below.

Kate Conger of the New York Times: “The decision by the White House to grant X a position of power and visibility [in the White House briefing room] alongside news organizations was one of an increasing number of perks landed by the social media company, as [Elon] Musk became omnipresent at ... [Donald] Trump’s side.... The positioning of X as a powerful government mouthpiece has helped bolster the platform, even as the company continues to struggle.... Mr. Musk, who has long bristled at media coverage of himself and his companies, has in recent months positioned X as a new media outlet, using his own news-making power to draw the spotlight to his platform.” ~~~

~~~ Yes, but Musk deserves the boost because he's doing such excellent work for the American people. ~~~

~~~ SNAFU. Lisa Rein, et al., of the Washington Post: “Retirees and disabled people are facing chronic website outages and other access problems as they attempt to log in to their online Social Security accounts, even as they are being directed to do more of their business with the agency online. The website has crashed repeatedly in recent weeks, with outages lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to almost a day, according to six current and former officials with knowledge of the issues. Even when the site is back online, many customers have not been able to sign in to their accounts — or have logged in only to find information missing. For others, access to the system has been slow, requiring repeated tries to get in.... The new demands from Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service include a 50 percent cut to the technology division responsible for the website and other electronic access. Many of the network outages appear to be caused by an expanded fraud check system imposed by the DOGE team, current and former officials said. The technology staff did not test the new software against a high volume of users to see if the servers could handle the rush, these officials said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Got that? (1) Musk fires half the staff needed to maintain the Website. Then (2) his incompetent boyz club writes some faulty code and installs it without beta-testing it. ~~~

~~~ AND This. Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: “Scientists at the National Institutes of Health demonstrated a promising step toward using a person’s own immune cells to fight gastrointestinal cancers in a paper in Nature Medicine on Tuesday, the same day the agency was hit with devastating layoffs that left many NIH personnel in tears.... A researcher who was not involved in the study called the results 'remarkable' because they highlight a path to a frustratingly elusive goal in medicine — harnessing a person’s own immune defenses to target common solid tumor cancers.... But the progress arrives at a sad time for science — and for patients, said the leader of the work, NIH immunotherapy pioneer Steven Rosenberg.... The Trump administration’s aggressive downsizing of staff and hampering of routine activities is beginning to delay that care.... Rosenberg said[,] 'Right now, assuming things don’t get any worse, it would be a month [delay]. These are not patients that have very many months left [to live].'”

Kyle Melnick, et al., of the Washington Post: “A second child has died of measles amid an outbreak in West Texas, prompting Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to meet with the family of the deceased 8-year-old girl in Gaines County, where most of the cases have clustered.... He said he was also there to learn how the Department of Health and Human Services can help control the outbreak. 'The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,' Kennedy said, referring to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine....

⭐“Hours after his pro-vaccine post, Kennedy followed up with photos of his visit to Texas, including with two doctors he described as 'extraordinary healers' who used the steroids and an antibiotic that infectious diseases specialists say are not recommended measles treatments. Ben Edwards, one of the doctors Kennedy praised, has criticized measles vaccination and released a podcast earlier in the outbreak describing mass infection as 'God’s version of measles immunization.” Richard Bartlett, the other, has inaccurately touted the steroid treatment as a cure for covid-19 and was disciplined by Texas medical regulators in 2003 for inappropriate use of antibacterial and steroid treatments.” ~~~

     ~~~ Other reports, like this one in Politico and this one from NBC News, note Kennedy's endorsement of the MMR vaccine, but don't mention his enthusiasm for a couple of voodoo medicine men. Kudos to the WashPo for reporting how Kennedy countered and effectively repudiated his supposed endorsement of the measles vax.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a show on Facebook of his meeting with American Indian and Alaska Native leaders last month.... Now Native leaders have some questions for him. Why ... did he lay off employees in programs aimed at supporting Native people, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Tribes initiative? Why has he shuttered five regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services that ... cover 80 percent of the nation’s Indian population? Why were five senior advisers for tribal issues within the department’s Administration for Children and Families, all of them Indian or Native people, let go? Why are all of these changes being made without consulting tribal leaders, despite centuries-old treaty obligations, as well as presidential executive orders, requiring it? But the final indignity ... came last week, when Mr. Kennedy reassigned high-ranking health officials ... to Indian Health Service locations in the American West, when what the chronically understaffed service really needs are doctors and nurses who are familiar with the unique needs of Native people.”

digby has much more on Saturday's protests. Thanks to RAS for the link. Gotta love the West Virginia White lady with the sign that reads, "What Cory Said." It's hard to give up when you see that kind of spunk and solidarity. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Maegan Vazquez & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: “House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) told House Republicans on Sunday that he has reached a deal with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) on a bipartisan bill that would have allowed new parents in Congress to vote remotely.... Johnson said ... Luna had pulled her resolution.... Instead, Johnson will work to formalize vote 'pairing' — a House rule that would match up an absent member’s vote with the vote of another member who votes the opposite way.... Luna [said the pairing] ... would be available for all House Republicans to use 'when unable to physically be present to vote: new parents, bereaved, emergencies.'... Initially, Democrats reacted skeptically and said they are trying to understand the agreement Johnson proposed before commenting.” MB: Uh, so the deal, whatever it is, is available only to Republicans? Or has Johnson pulled some kind of fast one on Luna, who is not the sharpest tack on the board? For a Man of God, Bible Mike is mighty shifty.

GOP Senator Favors Violence Against Journalists. Molly Young of the Oklahoman: “Journalists would write fewer 'fake news' stories if disputes over coverage could be handled through violence, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin suggested on social media. In a video posted over the weekend to his official X account, the Oklahoma Republican describes the 1890 killing of a former congressman, who was shot by a reporter in the U.S. Capitol. Mullin briefly pauses after finishing the story, then begins talking about journalists today. 'Now, there’s a lot we could say about reporters and the stories they write, but I bet they would write a lot less false stories — as President Trump says, “fake news” — if we could still handle our differences that way,' Mullin says.... Mullin recorded the video from the flight of stairs where he says the shooting occurred. He says stains from the former lawmaker’s blood can still be seen on the stone steps.... After Mullin makes his statement about reporters, the person recording him zooms in to show the blood-stained stairs.... Mullin's latest remarks come as verbal attacks against journalists grow more common.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Although a reporter murdered a congressman, Mullin uses the episode to suggest "lawmakers" should be the ones shooting reporters if they write stories members of Congress don't like. Seems a rather harsh codicil to the First Amendment, Markwayne(, you ignorant goon).

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Samantha Chery & Avi Selk of the Washington Post: “A Mississippi judge this week dismissed former governor Phil Bryant’s defamation lawsuit against a news nonprofit that investigated his connections to a $77 million public welfare scandal, sparing the newsroom from being forced to reveal internal documents and confidential sources it used for the Pulitzer-winning series. The dismissal was widely applauded by press freedom groups that viewed the suit as an effort to punish Mississippi Today and its journalists for scrutinizing government officials. Bryant filed the suit in July 2023 — about a year after Mississippi Today published the first installments of its investigative series 'The Backchannel,' which named Bryant and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre in connection to a scheme to abuse the state’s welfare program. Neither Favre nor Bryant have been charged with a crime, and both broadly deny any wrongdoing.”

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Cambodia. Hannah Beech & Sun Narin of the New York Times: “... the slashing of American foreign aid and ... [Donald] Trump’s executive order last month to gut American-funded news media like Radio Free Asia and Voice of America are erasing what little space for free speech remains in Cambodia. Thirty projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development have been canceled, including those supporting civil society and an independent media. It is a tectonic shift in this Southeast Asian nation, which was once a laboratory for internationally mandated democracy-building in the post-Khmer Rouge era, then later devolved into a strongman state.”

Israel/Palestine. Sam Mednick of the AP: “Israel has dramatically expanded its footprint in the Gaza Strip since relaunching its war against Hamas last month. It now controls more than 50% of the territory and is squeezing Palestinians into shrinking wedges of land. The largest contiguous area the army controls is around the Gaza border, where the military has razed Palestinian homes, farmland and infrastructure to the point of uninhabitability, according to Israeli soldiers and rights groups. This military buffer zone has doubled in size in recent weeks.”

The Conversation -- April 6, 2025

digby has much more on the protests. Thanks to RAS for the link. Gotta love the West Virginia White lady with the sign that reads, "What Cory Said." It's hard to give up when you see that kind of spunk and solidarity.

"We'll Be the Ones Eating the Cats and the Dogs": ~~~

Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News: “A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration had violated his order to halt sweeping freezes to federal funding by withholding Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to at least 19 states. It seemed to be a 'covert' effort to punish states with so-called sanctuary laws for immigrants, the judge said. In March, U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued a preliminary injunction in favor of 23 states that sued the government over its plan to implement a broad pause to state aid. The Barack Obama appointee ruled that the plan 'fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government,' and ordered the Trump administration to 'immediately end any funding pause' until further notice. But on Friday, McConnell found the Trump administration in breach of the court’s order. At least 19 states — all with Democratic attorney generals, and all of which had sued to stop the funding cuts — 'presented undisputed evidence' that they were not receiving congressionally approved FEMA funding from the federal government, the judge ruled.” Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Do bear in mind that the failure to follow the court's order is not just as oopsie! Rather, it's part of "a full-scale attack on democracy" and move toward autocracy, as Paul Blumenthal lays out in his HuffPost column linked below.

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Shaila Dewan, et al., of the New York Times: “Demonstrators had no shortage of causes as they gathered in towns and cities across the country on Saturday to protest ... [Donald] Trump’s agenda. Rallies were planned in all 50 states, and images posted on social media showed dense crowds in places as diverse as St. Augustine, Fla.; Salt Lake City and rainy Frankfort, Ky.... While crowd sizes are difficult to estimate, organizers said that more than 600,000 people had signed up to participate and that events also took place in U.S. territories and a dozen locations across the globe. On Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the protest stretched for nearly 20 blocks. In Chicago, thousands flooded Daley Plaza and adjacent streets, while, in the nation’s capital, tens of thousands surrounded the Washington Monument. In Atlanta, the police estimated the crowd marching to the gold-domed statehouse at over 20,000. Mr. Trump, who was playing golf in Florida on Saturday, appeared to be largely ignoring the protests.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the Washington Post's story. The NPR report is here. The Guardian's story is here. The AP report is here. All reports include multiple photos. ~~~

     ~~~ Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: “You Can Stop Asking Where the Mass Opposition Is. It’s Everywhere.... You could meet a dozen people and hear at least a dozen different existential threats. Hands off Social Security. Hands off public health grants. Hands off student visas. Hands off women. Hands off trans people. Hands off our tax dollars. Hands off Greenland. Hands off books. Hands off 401ks. Hands off immigrants. Hands off Mahmoud Khalil. Hands off grocery prices. Hands off unions. I even talked to a woman clutching a sign that said 'Hands off Libby' — the popular e-reader for public library systems which is now in jeopardy thanks to massive cuts to the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. This barrage of grievances offered a snapshot of the new Trump administration’s multi-front war on modernity. But it also got at something essential about the current anti-Trump movement. People weren’t taking action just to protest what the president and his movement represented, but because of visceral fear ... of what he had already done, and that once impossible things were now very much possible.”

This is in my mind a culmination of what he has already started, which is a methodical effort to destabilize and undermine our democracy so that he can assume much greater power. A lot of people are not talking about it because it’s not the most pressing issue of that particular day. [But an attack on democracy] is actually in motion and people need to recognize that it is not hypothetical or speculative anymore. -- Rep. Daniel Goldman [D-N.Y.] & lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment, in an interview. ~~~

Peter Baker of the New York Times: Donald Trump “is saying that he may try to hold onto power even after the Constitution stipulates that he must give it up, and ... he insists he is not joking.... The fact that Mr. Trump has inserted the idea into the national conversation illustrates the uncertainty about the future of America’s constitutional system, nearly 250 years after the country gained independence.... After all, Mr. Trump already tried once to hold onto power in defiance of the Constitution when he sought to overturn the 2020 election despite losing. He later called for 'termination' of the Constitution to return himself to the White House without a new election.... In the Trump era, the journey from unthinkable to reality has been remarkably short. Mr. Trump’s autocratic tendencies and disregard for constitutional norms are well documented. In this second term alone, he has already sought to overrule birthright citizenship embedded in the 14th Amendment, effectively co-opted the power of Congress to determine what money will be spent or agencies closed, purged the uniformed leadership of the armed forces to enforce greater personal loyalty and punished dissent in academia, the news media, the legal profession and the federal bureaucracy.”

Paul Blumenthal of the Huffington Post: “In his first 2 1/2 months in office..., Donald Trump has embraced sweeping arbitrary executive power in a manner not previously seen in American history. He is circumventing Congress, ignoring the courts and using the power of the state to crush any opposition to his agenda. This is a turn away from liberal democracy and toward autocracy.... This turn toward autocracy is not coming from the point of a gun ... but instead through assertions of law.... What we are seeing at the outset of the second Trump administration is a full-scale attack on democracy, liberal principles, and the rule of law that have been enshrined in legal precedents and the Constitution.... A peacetime assault of this scale and national scope directed from the White House has no historical analogue in this country.... From Hungary to Turkey to Poland to Russia to India, democracies collapse into autocracy not after a strongman seizes control of the military or through violent coups but through legal machinations that cement their control and neuter their opposition. They don’t necessarily end elections or entirely eliminate their opponents. Instead, they put their thumb on the scale to ensure elections go their way and that their opponents are weak.”

New York Times Editors: “... the most likely path to American autocracy depends on not only a power-hungry president but also the voluntary capitulation of a cowed civil society.... Anybody who has dealt with a schoolyard bully should recognize [that] the illusion of invincibility is often his greatest asset.... Taking on the president of the United States requires courage.... A crucial fact about ... agreements [lawfirms have made with Mr. Trump] is that they include no binding promises from the White House. Mr. Trump can threaten the firms again whenever he chooses and demand further concessions.... Their meekness is ultimately self-defeating.... The firms have just signaled their willingness to abandon clients that have fallen into disfavor with the federal government. That does not seem like a quality one would want in an attorney.... The three law firms that have filed suits to block Mr. Trump’s executive orders — Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale — provide a model [of correct responses to Mr. Trump's bullying]. So far, they are winning in court... [Victory over the Trump autocracy] calls for solidarity, especially for institutions that Mr. Trump has not (yet) targeted.”

“A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH.” Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: “The financial market meltdown was underway when ... [Donald] Trump boarded Air Force One on his way to Florida on Thursday for a doubleheader of sorts: a Saudi-backed golf tournament at his family’s Miami resort and a weekend of fund-raisers attracting hundreds of donors to his Palm Beach club. It was a fresh reminder that in his second term, Mr. Trump has continued to find ways to drive business to his family-owned real-estate ventures, a practice he has sustained even when his work in Washington has caused worldwide financial turmoil.... The Trump family monetization weekend started Thursday night.... Every room at the 643-room Trump Doral, including the $13,000-a-night presidential suite, was sold out through the weekend. Not a seat could be found at the BLT Prime steakhouse bar, where a porterhouse steak cost $130. 'This is the perfect venue,' Eric Trump said as he strolled the golf course Friday.... The president spent much of Friday at yet another Trump family venue, Trump International Golf Club, not far from Mar-a-Lago, sending out social media messages during the day, including, 'THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE.'”

Trump's One-Two Punch on Older Americans' Financial Security. Pamela Herd & Don Moynihan on Substack: "Many Americans are watching their retirement savings melt away because of ... [Donald] Trump’s disastrous trade policies.... Social Security is also under attack. Think of it as a two-pronged assault on Americans’ financial stability." The writers go on to describe how Social Security is already beginning to crash under the Trumpian concentration on fake concern about barely-existent waste, fraud & abuse.

David Sanger & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “When ... [Donald] Trump abruptly fired the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command on Thursday, it was the latest in a series of moves that have torn away at the country’s cyberdefenses just as they are confronting the most sophisticated and sustained attacks in the nation’s history. The commander, General Timothy D. Haugh..., had been among the American officials most deeply involved in pushing back on Russia, dating to his work countering Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election. His dismissal came after weeks in which the Trump administration swept away nearly all of the government’s election-related cyberdefenses beyond the secure N.S.A. command centers at Fort Meade, Md. At the same time, the administration has shrunk much of the nation’s complex early-warning system for cyberattacks, a web through which tech firms work with the F.B.I. and intelligence agencies to protect the power grid, pipelines and telecommunications networks. Cybersecurity experts, election officials and lawmakers — mostly Democrats but a few Republicans — have begun to raise alarms that the United States is knocking down a system that, while still full of holes, has taken a decade to build. It has pushed out some of its most experienced cyberdefenders and fired younger talent brought in to design defenses against a wave of ransomware, Chinese intrusions and vulnerabilities created by artificial intelligence.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “General Haugh was ousted because Laura Loomer, a far-right wing conspiracy theorist and Trump adviser, had accused him and his deputy of disloyalty, according to U.S. officials and Ms. Loomer’s social media post early Friday. He was one of several national security officials fired this past week on her advice.... 'If decades of experience in uniform isn’t enough to lead the N.S.A. but amateur isolationists can hold senior policy jobs at the Pentagon, then what exactly are the criteria for working on this administration’s national security staff?' [Sen. Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] said.... 'I fear this is just the hourly installment in the Laura Loomer clown car aspect of this administration,' [Rep. James] Himes [D-Conn.] said.... 'In many cases [the administration is firing] some of our most valuable people. And this very directly makes us less safe.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Washington Post Editors: “If not for ... Donald Trump’s self-inflicted wounds from the tariffs he unveiled on Wednesday, the biggest White House story this past week might have been his purge of six National Security Council staffers and the top two officials at the National Security Agency.... Trump says he wants to be known as the most transparent president in U.S. history. In that case, he should explain to Americans why so many political appointees whom he placed in critical security jobs only three months ago needed to be fired so soon. [Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura] Loomer[, who took credit for the firings,] suggested there had been a 'vetting failure.'” Trump needs to answer how firing Gen. Timothy Haugh makes the U.S. safer.

Marie: The New York Times, which until this year hovered near the top of both-sider journalism purity, is finally doing its job. Since Trump took office, reporters -- both when doing straight reporting and when doing what the Times labels as "analysis" -- have called out Trump and his flunkies for their unwise, unlawful, unconstitutional, cruel and incompetent actions.

Oh My! Ben Berkowitz of Axios: "Elon Musk blasted top Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro and told an Italian political gathering he wants more free trade, not less.... The two-day rout in the stock market this week, after Trump announced sweeping new tariffs backed by Navarro, cost Musk nearly $18 billion just on his Tesla stock. By wading into the tariff debate, a subject he's mostly stayed away from, Musk could inject more uncertainty into U.S. efforts to re-order the global economy.... Friday morning, a user on Musk's social media platform X defended the controversial Navarro as a skilled voice on tariffs, citing his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. Musk, in a reply in the early hours of Saturday morning, disagreed. 'A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing,' he wrote, suggesting it resulted in having more ego than brains. Another user stepped in to defend Navarro as right on trade, to which Musk replied 'He ain't built s--t.'" (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. More on Elon in Europe linked below.

⭐Anthony Ha of TechCrunch: "DOGE reportedly [is] planning a hackathon to build ‘mega API’ for IRS data. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plans to host a hackathon next week focused on the creation of a 'mega API' that will provide access to taxpayer data, according to Wired. Wired says the hackathon is being organized by two DOGE staffers at the Internal Revenue Service — Gavin Kliger and Sam Corcos, who’s also CEO at healthtech startup Levels. Corcos has reportedly been telling others at DOGE that his goal is to build 'one new API to rule them all.' This would make it easy for cloud providers to access IRS data including taxpayer names, addresses, social security numbers, tax returns, and employment information, which could all be exported to external systems. According to Wired, a third-party party vendor would manage parts of the project, with Palantir [MB: founded by Peter Thiel] 'consistently' brought up as a candidate.”

Edward Wong & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that he was revoking the visas of all South Sudan passport holders because the country’s transitional government had refused to accept in a 'timely manner' citizens who were being deported by the Trump administration. Mr. Rubio also said in a social media post that he would 'restrict any further issuance to prevent entry' of South Sudanese, blaming the 'failure of South Sudan’s transitional government' to accept the repatriations.... Mr. Rubio’s action is similar to one that ... [Donald] Trump announced in late January, when he threatened Colombian officials with revocation of their visas and tariffs on the country’s exports because they were refusing to accept U.S. military flights with Colombian deportees. In that case, Colombia reversed its decision quickly.” The AP's report is here.

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “Government attorneys slammed a judge’s order to return a Salvadoran immigrant to the United States, arguing in a Saturday filing that the judge’s directive was 'indefensible' and that the United States has 'no authority' to make a sovereign nation release the man. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis directed the administration to arrange the return of Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran immigrant married to a U.S. citizen, by no later than 11:59 p.m. Monday. The Justice Department’s response asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to step in and immediately pause Xinis’s order.... The appeal argues at length that the government has no power to return Abrego García because he is in the custody of the Salvadoran government, though the Trump administration says it is paying El Salvador about $6 million for the detention of deportees.” MB: Oh, let me think: how could the U.S. possibly persuade El Salvador to release one of the prisoners in its “custody”?

     ~~~ The AP report is here. MB: BTW, it's so embarrassing when a government lawyer does the right thing ~~~

~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “A senior Justice Department immigration lawyer was put on indefinite leave Saturday after questioning the Trump administration’s decision to deport a Maryland man to El Salvador — one day after representing the government in court. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche suspended Erez Reuveni, the acting deputy director of the department’s immigration litigation division, for failing to 'follow a directive from your superiors.'... Mr. Reuveni — who was praised as a 'top-notched' prosecutor by his superiors in an email announcing his promotion two weeks ago — is the latest career official to be suspended, demoted, transferred or fired for refusing to comply with a directive from ... [Donald] Trump’s appointees to take actions they deem improper or unethical.... 

“Under questioning by a federal judge on Friday, Mr. Reuveni conceded that the deportation last month of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who had a court order allowing him to stay in the United States, should never have taken place. Mr. Reuveni also said he had been frustrated when the case landed on his desk. Mr. Reuveni, a respected 15-year veteran of the immigration division, asked the judge for 24 hours to persuade his 'client,' the Trump administration, to begin the process of retrieving and repatriating Mr. Abrego Garcia. Less than 24 hours later, Mr. Blanche..., [Mr.] Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, accused Mr. Reuveni of 'engaging in conduct prejudicial to your client.' Mr. Blanche suspended Mr. Reuveni with pay, cut off access to his work email and blocked him from performing any duties related to his job.” ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: DOJ attorney Erez “Reuveni was noticeably unenthusiastic about the government’s position in the case, telling U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis that he had urged his 'clients' to take steps to bring Abrego Garcia back. The lawyer also said he’d been rebuffed in his attempts to get more information to offer the court about why officials deemed him to be a member of MS-13.... Toward the end of Friday’s hearing, Reuveni pleaded with Xinis to hold off her ruling for 24 hours so he could beseech the government to change its position.”

Unfuckingbelievable! Edward Wong & Hannah Beech of the New York Times: “Trump administration officials have fired workers for the main American aid agency who were sent to Myanmar to assess how the United States could help with earthquake relief efforts, three people with knowledge of the actions said. The firings, done Friday while the workers were in the rubble-strewn city of Mandalay, raise doubts about Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s stated commitment to continuing some humanitarian and crisis aid even as the aid organization, the U.S. Agency for International Development, is dismantled by the Trump administration.... Trump appointees continue to cut humanitarian aid contracts, say employees.... When asked by a reporter on Friday in Brussels about the inability of the United States to provide substantial aid to Myanmar, Mr. Rubio said that other large countries, including China and India, should step up in global foreign aid as the United States cuts back.... [He said] 'we already have people there.'” MB: Yeah, but he didn't say it was only three people and he just fired them. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lives are at risk. -- Mary Glackin, a top NOAA official during the Bush II & Obama administrations ~~~

~~~ Dan Diamond & Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: “... FDA inspectors['] ... jobs have been mostly preserved amid the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the federal government. But the people who help support those inspections haven’t fared so well. More than 150 people in the FDA’s Office of Inspections and Investigations — the staff responsible for purchasing supplies, managing trips and coordinating other administrative functions — were laid off last week.... So were staff dedicated to food-safety policies and regulations, including an entire office that partnered with foreign countries to handle food-related disease outbreaks. Meanwhile, the FDA’s top food safety official — a position created after the infant formula crisis — resigned in February, citing 'indiscriminate' staffing cuts to his office.... Across the government..., Donald Trump and his allies have sliced billions of dollars and tens of thousands of staff from agencies focused on health and safety, such as the FDA..., [FEMA and NOAA] — cuts that are hollowing out longtime federal offices, shedding expertise, and appear to go against Trump’s repeated campaign promises to make Americans healthier and safer.

“The chorus of experts issuing warnings about the cuts include career civil servants who worked under both GOP and Democratic presidents, Republican lawmakers and former Trump officials who held top positions in the president’s first term. Many said that the moves reflect a shifting of risk from the federal government to states and cities that have more limited resources to prepare for natural disasters, public health crises and other threats. They also predicted the cuts would place new burdens on average Americans....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As I wrote yesterday, the costs of covering the "savings" the Musk/Trump administration claims will have to come from somewhere else. Now I see experts are backing me up. BTW, in some cases, those "savings" could ultimately cost Americans much more than they saved in their federal tax payments; case on point: ~~~

~~~ Anna Phillips, et al., of the Washington Post: “As Trump’s second administration looks to slash federal spending, money given to states by the federal government after disasters strike could also be in jeopardy. The president has said he wants to eliminate FEMA and shift responsibility for disaster response to the states — which experts said are unprepared to respond to catastrophic disasters without federal assistance. The preparedness grant program, known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities [BRIC], had made more than $5 billion available since 2020 to help local projects that reduce the impact of disasters. The agency plans to review earlier grants and claw back funding for those that have not yet been paid out.... 'BRIC was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program,' [a FEMA spokeswoman] said in a statement. 'It was more concerned with climate change than helping Americans effected by natural disasters.'” MB: Right: because it's much better to incur billions of dollars in natural disaster damage -- not to mention the heartbreak, loss of life and property destruction -- than to spend millions preventing disasters.

Time for Some Clear-cutting! Angie Hernandez of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration has removed environmental protections covering more than half of the land managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the president’s aim to significantly bolster the U.S. logging industry. In a memo issued Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said 'heavy-handed federal policies' have prevented the United States from making use of its 'abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs.' The directive ... comes a month after ... Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking changes to forest management to increase timber production by 25 percent. Rollins added that, of the land that fell under the directive, almost 67 million acres were determined to be at a 'very high' or 'high' wildfire risk, and almost 79 million acres were experiencing 'declining forest health' from insects and disease.... Rollins’s memo, which does not make a reference to climate change, instructed Forest Service field leadership to fast-track timber production by removing National Environmental Policy Act regulations....

“But forestry experts ... warned during similar efforts in Trump’s first term that you can’t log your way out of fire danger, The Washington Post reported. Removing large, fire-resistant trees also gives way to young trees that are more susceptible to fires.” MB: Huh. I guess the loggers aren't planning to sweep the forest floors while they're there. The AP's report is here.

Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: “Soon after the new administration arrived, things began to go missing from the White House website. They weren’t just the partisan policy platforms that typically disappear during a presidential transition. Informational pages about the Constitution and past presidents, up in various forms since President George W. Bush was in office, all vanished. Thousands of other government web pages had also been taken down or modified, including content about vaccines, hate crimes, low-income children, opioid addiction and veterans, before a court order temporarily blocked part of the sweeping erasure.... As data and resources are deleted or altered, something foundational is also at risk: Americans’ ability to access and evaluate their past, and with it, their already shaky trust in facts. 'This is not a cost-cutting mechanism,' said Kenny Evans ... [of] Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.... 'This slide toward secrecy and lack of transparency is an erosion of democratic norms.'

“The casualties are not just digital. The head of the National Archives..., 'the custodian of America’s collective memory,' was fired by Mr. Trump in February.... The Institute of Museum and Library Services, was named in an executive order calling for its elimination ... (its acting director said he planned to 'restore focus on patriotism').... As senior [U.S.A.I.D.] official told employees to shred or burn classified documents and personnel files.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Now, Here Is Some Whitewashing! Jon Swaine & Jeremy Merrill of the Washington Post: “For years, a National Park Service webpage introduced the Underground Railroad with a large photograph of its most famous 'conductor,' Harriet Tubman.... Tubman’s photograph is now gone. In its place are images of Postal Service stamps that highlight 'Black/White cooperation' in the secret network and that feature Tubman among abolitionists of both races.... 'The Underground Railroad — the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, through the end of the Civil War — refers to the efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage,' the page [once] began.... The introductory sentence ... has been replaced by a line that makes no mention of slavery and that describes the Underground Railroad as 'one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement.' The effort 'bridged the divides of race,' the page now says. The executive order that ... Donald Trump issued late last month directing the Smithsonian Institution to eliminate 'divisive narratives' stirred fears that the president aimed to whitewash the stories the nation tells about itself. But a Washington Post review of websites operated by the National Park Service ... found that edits on dozens of pages ... have already softened descriptions of some of the most shameful moments of the nation’s past.”

James Poniewozik of the New York Times: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's “social feed is one example of the administration’s turn to reality-TV tactics — slick, showy, sometimes cruel — as a means of government.... Since she took office in January, the secretary’s online video presence has been helping a media-minded administration broadcast images of unsparing domination with a telegenic face.... [Her] videos take care to make her look the part, dress the part and play the part against scenic backdrops.... As the face of [the administration's] immigration-enforcement project, she wears and is framed by accouterments of inviolable authority. She goes out with ICE, wearing a police vest and declaring, like Andy Sipowicz in 'NYPD Blue,' 'We are getting the dirt bags off these streets.'[Meanwhile,] The secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox TV host, loads his X feed with images of himself working out in the gym and meeting with the mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, underscoring his feed’s recurrent theme of politicized hypermasculinity. The official White House account is rife with boasting and taunting posts, many drawing on meme formats from the dank corners of the internet.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: They really have no idea that they come across to normal people as the most foolish of cartoon villains. See Akhilleus' commentary in Saturday's thread.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Last March, when Rob Bresnahan, Jr., a wealthy business executive, was running to represent a competitive House district in northeastern Pennsylvania, he published a letter to the editor in a local newspaper demanding an end to stock trading by members of Congress.... If elected, Mr. Bresnahan told voters, he would co-sponsor legislation to ban stock trading by members of Congress, a practice he said 'needs to come to an end immediately.' More than two months after being sworn in, Mr. Bresnahan, who defeated a Democratic incumbent last November in one of the most expensive House races in the country, has not introduced or co-sponsored such a bill. Over that time, he has emerged as one of the most active stock traders in the freshman class, according to Capitol Trades.... Since he took office in January, Mr. Bresnahan has reported 264 stock trades, according to the site. He has purchased up to $1.7 million in stock since taking office, according to his periodic transaction report, and has sold up to $3.03 million.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Congratulations, Rob! You made the front page of the New York Times! Putz.

~~~~~~~~~~

U.K. Bus Stop Ad: “Tesla. The Swasticar. Goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds.” Michael Shear of the New York Times: “Across [London] and in several European cities, [Elon] Musk’s signature business has become the target of the same kind of political anger that has fueled vandalism of Tesla cars in the United States and sometimes violent protests at his dealerships. There have been some instances of unruly protests and vandalism in Europe. But much of the anti-Musk sentiment has taken the form of political satire, of the kind that has flourished in Britain since at least the 18th century.... 'Nobody who is that rich and powerful has behaved that outrageously,' [said] John Gorenfeld..., who helped start a London-based group called 'Takedown Tesla.' 'There’s something campy and ridiculous about Musk’s brand of toxicity. And it opens up a real space to ridicule.'... The small anti-Musk groups that have popped up around Europe have the same basic goal: Tank Tesla’s stock price and sales as a way of sending a message to Mr. Musk and other super-wealthy people who are thinking of promoting far-right politics around the world.”

The Conversation -- April 5, 2025

Unfuckingbelievable! Edward Wong & Hannah Beech of the New York Times: “Trump administration officials have fired workers for the main American aid agency who were sent to Myanmar to assess how the United States could help with earthquake relief efforts, three people with knowledge of the actions said. The firings, done Friday while the workers were in the rubble-strewn city of Mandalay, raise doubts about Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s stated commitment to continuing some humanitarian and crisis aid even as the aid organization, the U.S. Agency for International Development, is dismantled by the Trump administration.... Trump appointees continue to cut humanitarian aid contracts, say employees.... When asked by a reporter on Friday in Brussels about the inability of the United States to provide substantial aid to Myanmar, Mr. Rubio said that other large countries, including China and India, should step up in global foreign aid as the United States cuts back.... [He said] 'we already have people there.'” MB: Yeah, but he didn't say it was only three people and he just fired them.

Oh My! Ben Berkowitz of Axios: "Elon Musk blasted top Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro and told an Italian political gathering he wants more free trade, not less.... The two-day rout in the stock market this week, after Trump announced sweeping new tariffs backed by Navarro, cost Musk nearly $18 billion just on his Tesla stock. By wading into the tariff debate, a subject he's mostly stayed away from, Musk could inject more uncertainty into U.S. efforts to re-order the global economy.... Friday morning, a user on Musk's social media platform X defended the controversial Navarro as a skilled voice on tariffs, citing his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. Musk, in a reply in the early hours of Saturday morning, disagreed. 'A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing,' he wrote, suggesting it resulted in having more ego than brains. Another user stepped in to defend Navarro as right on trade, to which Musk replied 'He ain't built s--t.'"

David Sanger & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “When ... [Donald] Trump abruptly fired the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command on Thursday, it was the latest in a series of moves that have torn away at the country’s cyberdefenses just as they are confronting the most sophisticated and sustained attacks in the nation’s history. The commander, General Timothy D. Haugh..., had been among the American officials most deeply involved in pushing back on Russia, dating to his work countering Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election. His dismissal came after weeks in which the Trump administration swept away nearly all of the government’s election-related cyberdefenses beyond the secure N.S.A. command centers at Fort Meade, Md. At the same time, the administration has shrunk much of the nation’s complex early-warning system for cyberattacks, a web through which tech firms work with the F.B.I. and intelligence agencies to protect the power grid, pipelines and telecommunications networks. Cybersecurity experts, election officials and lawmakers — mostly Democrats but a few Republicans — have begun to raise alarms that the United States is knocking down a system that, while still full of holes, has taken a decade to build. It has pushed out some of its most experienced cyberdefenders and fired younger talent brought in to design defenses against a wave of ransomware, Chinese intrusions and vulnerabilities created by artificial intelligence.” ~~~

     ~~~ Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “General Haugh was ousted because Laura Loomer, a far-right wing conspiracy theorist and Trump adviser, had accused him and his deputy of disloyalty, according to U.S. officials and Ms. Loomer’s social media post early Friday. He was one of several national security officials fired this past week on her advice.... 'If decades of experience in uniform isn’t enough to lead the N.S.A. but amateur isolationists can hold senior policy jobs at the Pentagon, then what exactly are the criteria for working on this administration’s national security staff?' [Sen. Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] said.... 'I fear this is just the hourly installment in the Laura Loomer clown car aspect of this administration,' [Rep. James] Himes [D-Conn.] said.... 'In many cases [the administration is firing] some of our most valuable people. And this very directly makes us less safe.'”

Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: “Soon after the new administration arrived, things began to go missing from the White House website. They weren’t just the partisan policy platforms that typically disappear during a presidential transition. Informational pages about the Constitution and past presidents, up in various forms since President George W. Bush was in office, all vanished. Thousands of other government web pages had also been taken down or modified, including content about vaccines, hate crimes, low-income children, opioid addiction and veterans, before a court order temporarily blocked part of the sweeping erasure.... As data and resources are deleted or altered, something foundational is also at risk: Americans’ ability to access and evaluate their past, and with it, their already shaky trust in facts. 'This is not a cost-cutting mechanism,' said Kenny Evans ... [of] Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.... 'This slide toward secrecy and lack of transparency is an erosion of democratic norms.'

“The casualties are not just digital. The head of the National Archives..., 'the custodian of America’s collective memory,' was fired by Mr. Trump in February.... The Institute of Museum and Library Services, was named in an executive order calling for its elimination ... (its acting director said he planned to 'restore focus on patriotism').... As senior [U.S.A.I.D.] official told employees to shred or burn classified documents and personnel files.”

James Poniewozik of the New York Times: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's “social feed is one example of the administration’s turn to reality-TV tactics — slick, showy, sometimes cruel — as a means of government.... Since she took office in January, the secretary’s online video presence has been helping a media-minded administration broadcast images of unsparing domination with a telegenic face.... [Her] videos take care to make her look the part, dress the part and play the part against scenic backdrops.... As the face of [the administration's] immigration-enforcement project, she wears and is framed by accouterments of inviolable authority. She goes out with ICE, wearing a police vest and declaring, like Andy Sipowicz in 'NYPD Blue,' 'We are getting the dirt bags off these streets.'[Meanwhile,] The secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox TV host, loads his X feed with images of himself working out in the gym and meeting with the mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, underscoring his feed’s recurrent theme of politicized hypermasculinity. The official White House account is rife with boasting and taunting posts, many drawing on meme formats from the dank corners of the internet.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: They really have no idea that they come across to normal people as the most foolish of cartoon villains. See Akhilleus' commentary in Saturday's thread.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Last March, when Rob Bresnahan, Jr., a wealthy business executive, was running to represent a competitive House district in northeastern Pennsylvania, he published a letter to the editor in a local newspaper demanding an end to stock trading by members of Congress.... If elected, Mr. Bresnahan told voters, he would co-sponsor legislation to ban stock trading by members of Congress, a practice he said 'needs to come to an end immediately.' More than two months after being sworn in, Mr. Bresnahan, who defeated a Democratic incumbent last November in one of the most expensive House races in the country, has not introduced or co-sponsored such a bill. Over that time, he has emerged as one of the most active stock traders in the freshman class, according to Capitol Trades.... Since he took office in January, Mr. Bresnahan has reported 264 stock trades, according to the site. He has purchased up to $1.7 million in stock since taking office, according to his periodic transaction report, and has sold up to $3.03 million.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Congratulations, Rob! You made the front page of the New York Times! Putz.

~~~~~~~~~~

⭐ If you're looking for a nice family activity to participate in today, get started at this HandsOff! page, which will guide you to protest events in your area. (Also linked yesterday.)

Brian Evans, et al., of CNBC: "The stock market was pounded for a second day Friday after China retaliated with new tariffs on U.S. goods, sparking fears ... Donald Trump has ignited a global trade war that will lead to a recession. Here’s a tally of the stock market damage: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,100 points, or 5.5% on Friday, its biggest decline since June 2020 during the pandemic. This follows a 1,679 point decline on Thursday and brings the drawdown from its record to more than 14%. The S&P 500 nosedived 5.8%, also the biggest decline since June 2020. The benchmark shed 4.84% on Thursday and is now off 17% off its recent high. The Nasdaq Composite. home to many tech companies that sell to China and manufacture there as well, dropped 5.6%. this follows a nearly 6% drop on Thursday. The measure is 22% lower than its December record, a bear market in Wall Street terminology. The selling was broad with only 14 members of the S&P 500 higher on the day. Major market indexes closed at their lows of the session." (Also linked yesterday.) 

Tony Romm of the New York Times: “... Mr. Trump responded to the day of chaos by striking a defiant tone. Having decamped from Washington to Mar-a-Lago, his home in Florida, he declared on Truth Social: 'MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE.' Instead, the president insisted in another post that his strategy was 'ALREADY WORKING,' as he held up a newly released and better-than-expected jobs report, which reflected that U.S. hiring increased in the month before the announcement of his tariffs. At one point, the president even circulated another user’s video that argued 'Trump is purposely CRASHING the market,' in a bid to force the Fed to lower interest rates. He later called on Mr. Powell to do just that, demanding that the independent chair of the central bank 'STOP PLAYING POLITICS.' And Mr. Trump eventually turned his attention to China, attacking the country for having 'PLAYED IT WRONG' by retaliating against the United States.”

Arden Farhi & Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "As stocks continued to slide..., [Donald] Trump is speaking at a $1 million dollar-a-person candlelight dinner Friday at Mar-a-Lago, according to an invitation reviewed by CBS News. The fundraiser is for MAGA Inc, a super PAC that supports Mr. Trump. MAGA Inc. can raise unlimited money but is barred from coordinating directly with Mr. Trump's campaign arm. The fine print for the Friday's invitation says the president is attending as a guest speaker and not soliciting donations. Another $1 million-a-head MAGA Inc. dinner is scheduled for April 24 in Washington, according to the invitation. Donors can 'co-host' that dinner for $2.5 million or become a 'host' for $5 million.... [Because he was busy playing golf game with Saudi princes and all, Trump also missed] Friday's midday dignified transfer of four U.S. soldiers who died in a training accident in Lithuania."

I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things. -- Donald Trump, March 2016

He’s at the peak of just not giving a fuck anymore. -- White House Official, speaking of Trump in April 2025 ~~~

~~~ You know that formula that Trump used to determine tariff rates? Well, guess whose idea it was? Wacky ex-con Peter Navarro's. And guess who chose it over a menu of other, more nuanced formulae? Yes, yes, the dullest tool in the shed, Donald Trump. ~~~

     ~~~ Natalie Allison, et al., of the Washington Post: “After its debut in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, the crude math drew mockery from economists as Trump’s new global trade war prompted a sharp drop in markets.... Inside and outside the White House, advisers say Trump is unbowed even as the world reels from the biggest increase in trade hostilities in a century. They say Trump is unperturbed by negative headlines or criticism from foreign leaders. He is determined to listen to a single voice — his own — to secure what he views as his political legacy.” The article examines the, uh, decision-making process that led to the tariff fiasco. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ For more on Peter Navarro's expertise and how he got to such an important position that he could persuade Donnie Dimwit to singlehandedly destroy the world's economy, here's Rachel Maddow. I've started the video 5-1/2 minutes in to get right to the Navarro bit, but that first 5:30 is an excellent summary of "where we're at," as the kids say, so you may want to back the video on up for that, too: ~~~

     ~~~ I, Marie Burns, will never tire of citing the expert opinions of Brian Remus, though occasionally I do rely on the compelling arguments of Erin Rumbas. (You may find a few of studies conducted by Erin's researcher Amber N. Ruis creeping into my denser works, although Amber's results are more apt to appear in the footnotes.) Anyhow, like Navarro, I use plenty of expert analyses to back up my theories. (This is a joke; you may have to watch the video to get it, unless you're a typoglycemiac.)

David Lynch of the Washington Post: “The tariff barrage that ... Donald Trump unleashed this week on the world economy marks a decisive end to an era of freewheeling globalization that was shaped by American policymakers, business executives and consumers. The United States is now abandoning the system that made it rich and powerful, gambling that it can become more prosperous by waging a global trade war on friend and foe alike. Trump’s new protectionism breaks with international economic policies that were pursued by more than a dozen American presidents as the nation grew into a superpower that boasted a $30 trillion economy, the world’s largest and most innovative.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Justin Wolfers in a New York Times op-ed: “These tariffs are going to hurt. A lot. By my calculations, this round of tariffs may be 50 times as painful as the ones Donald Trump instituted in his first term. That means they are going to reshape your life in much more fundamental ways.... Small tariffs create small problems. Big tariffs create huge ones. Take Mr. Trump’s 25 percent tariff on vehicles, which is expected to raise their prices by roughly $4,000. Many families, like mine, will probably decide not to buy a second car. That creates far bigger problems than an aging washer [would have caused a family because of Trump's 2018 tariffs on washing machines].... And it’s not just cars. These are across-the-board tariffs, so they will distort virtually every purchase you make.... Mr. Trump’s latest tariffs will lead folks to rethink not only whether to replace their washing machines — as they did in 2018 — but also their dryers, refrigerators, stoves, groceries, clothes, cars and even everyday essentials. [The effects of Trump's tariffs] multiply, which means their costs rise in the square of the tariff rate. That leads to some pretty painful arithmetic.”

Colby Smith of the New York Times: “Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, warned that ... [Donald] Trump’s tariffs risk stoking even higher inflation and slower growth than initially expected, as he struck a more downbeat tone about the outlook, despite the economy so far remaining in a 'good place.'... Mr. Powell characterized the risks of that outcome, which he warned could include higher unemployment, as 'elevated.' 'While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent,' he said in a speech at a conference in Arlington, Va., on Friday.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Meredith Hill of Politico: “Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon said he plans to introduce a companion bill to the bipartisan Senate legislation aimed at reclaiming Congress’ authority over tariffs, becoming the first House Republican to openly challenge the powers ... Donald Trump is using to launch a massive global trade war.... The Senate bill introduced Thursday by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) would limit a president’s power to impose tariffs, including allowing Congress to vote to end any tariff at any time. It would also require the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing any duty and for Congress to explicitly approve any new tariffs within 60 days. Four additional Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors to that bill. Bacon’s move is a rare step in the deeply Trump-loyal House Republican conference. Speaker Mike Johnson has no plans to bring any legislation limiting Trump’s tariff authority to the House floor, and House Republicans voted for a measure several weeks ago that effectively barred any lawmaker from trying to force a vote to end the president’s emergency declaration he’s used to implement tariffs.”

Quelle Idiot! Roger Cohen of the New York Times: “'FREE MARINE LE PEN!' With this blunt call, a strange one in that the French far-right leader is walking the streets of Paris..., [Donald] Trump has waded into the politics of an ally, condemning her conviction this week on embezzlement charges and her disqualification from running for public office. The conviction was 'another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech,' Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. Elon Musk, his billionaire aide, drove home the point: 'Free Le Pen!' Mr. Musk echoed on his social media platform X. More than an extraordinary American intervention in French politics, the statements ignored the overwhelming evidence arrayed against Ms. Le Pen, who was convicted of helping orchestrate over many years a system to divert European taxpayers’ money illicitly to offset the acute financial difficulties of her National Rally party in France.” (Also linked yesterday.)

⭐Katie Mettler & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: “A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to ask the government of El Salvador to release a man U.S. immigration officers mistakenly deported to a mega-prison there last month, in an emergency ruling after his lawyers argued that the man was at imminent risk of death. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego García, the husband of a U.S. citizen and longtime Maryland resident, to the United States by no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday. As the judge issued her order, supporters outside the courtroom cheered.” This is a developing story. (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let's see how forcefully the Trumpies make the ask. ~~~

     ~~~ The WashPo story has been updated. And it does now reflect just how hard the administration plans to offer a measure of justice to Abrego Garcia: “The Trump administration immediately appealed the ruling Friday. Officials have argued that they have no power to return Abrego García because he is in the custody of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.'We suggest the Judge contact President Bukele because we are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an email.” The best thing about Leavitt is that you wouldn't feel ashamed or sorry at all if you slapped her in her smug, petulant, mean-girl face.

Anemona Hartocollis of the New York Times: “A federal judge ordered Friday that the case to free Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts student from Turkey, from immigration detention should be moved to a court in Vermont, denying a government demand to hold the proceedings in Louisiana, where she is being held. Ms. Ozturk, a legal resident on a student visa, was swept up by the government as part of what the Trump administration has described as a campaign against antisemitic activists on campus. In a hearing on Thursday, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the government had stealthily transferred her from Massachusetts, where she was arrested, to Louisiana without informing her lawyers where she was. The lawyer, Adriana Lafaille, suggested the government was seeking a court that would favor its case. Louisiana has one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country.... In her ruling on Friday, Judge Denise Casper of U.S. District Court in Boston, said that Vermont was the proper venue because Ms. Ozturk was being held there overnight at the time that her lawyers — not knowing where she was — filed a petition for her release in Boston. Normally, a petition to free someone would be filed in the jurisdiction where the person was confined.”

Yes, They're Coming for Us. Maria Luisa Paul of the Washington Post: “... recent news reports of at least seven alleged cases have alarmed attorneys, civil rights advocates and immigration scholars who say they reveal the dangers of a system accelerating with few safeguards. As the Trump administration pushes for mass deportations, expands federal enforcement and shutters oversight offices, experts warn citizens are increasingly at risk of getting caught in the dragnet.... Investigations by media outlets, research institutes and oversight agencies have revealed that ICE has arrested, detained, deported and issued detainers — requests to local jails to hold a person in custody — for thousands of citizens since the agency was created in 2003. One 2011 study estimated that roughly 1 to 1.5 percent of deportees are U.S. citizens.” ~~~

~~~ Oops! Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration mistakenly sent an urgent notice this week to some Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion saying it was terminating their provisional legal status in seven days and ordering them to leave the United States 'immediately,' frightening immigrants and advocates across the country. 'A message was sent in error to some Ukrainians' who entered the United States under the Uniting for Ukraine program, said Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. She said the 'parole program has not been terminated.'... The notice, which advocates provided to The Washington Post, echoed rhetoric that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem has deployed on social media to target undocumented immigrants, ordering immigrants to leave, threatening to rescind their work permits and warning they could be criminally prosecuted or fined if they fail to depart.... Rabbi James Greene ...  of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, which aids immigrants and refugees,” called the language of the email “shameful.”

Okey-doke. Now we have a better picture of Trump's immigration plan:

     ~~~ Scripps News Group: Donald "Trump on Thursday showed reporters an example of the gold card he has proposed that would give immigrants a pathway to citizenship in exchange for a $5 million purchase price. 'You know what that is?' Trump asked as he held up the card. 'It's the gold card, the Trump card.... For $5 million, this can be yours.' The card ... Trump showed to reporters bore his image and signature and the words 'The Trump Card.' It was marked with its $5 million purchase price. The cards are part of a program through which foreigners could fast-track a path to U.S. citizenship. Such a program would be similar to the existing EB-5 visa program, which the U.S. began in 1990 to encourage job creation by foreign investors. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said the 'gold card' system would replace the EB-5 visa program." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: The competition is intense for the Trump Brownnoser of the Week, but kudos to the person who designed that "Trump card"; s/he might have won the prize. Update: RAS thinks it's a crap AI design.

Adam Liptak & Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Friday let the Trump administration temporarily suspend $65 million in teacher-training grants that the government contends would promote diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, an early victory for the administration in front of the justices. The court’s order was unsigned, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. The temporary pause will remain in effect while the case is appealed. The decision was 5 to 4, with five of the court’s conservatives — Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Brett M. Kavanaugh — in the majority. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. voted with the court’s three liberal justices in dissent.... The grants at issue in the case helped place teachers in poor and rural areas and aimed to recruit a diverse work force reflecting the communities it served.” Politico's story is here. MB: Evidently only white teachers can give kids of every race a proper patriotic American education.

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has traditionally been a powerful guardrail in American government. It has issued interpretations of the law that bind agencies across the executive branch, decided which proposed policies were legally permissible or out of bounds and approved draft executive orders before they went to presidents to be signed. But in ... [Donald] Trump’s second term so far, the office has largely been sidelined. As Mr. Trump issues policy after policy pushing legal limits and asserting an expansive view of his power, the White House has undercut its role as a gatekeeper — delaying giving it senior leadership and weakening its ability to impose quality control over executive orders. Its diminished voice is shifting the balance of legal power in the executive branch toward the White House, speeding up Mr. Trump’s ability to act but creating mounting difficulties for the Justice Department lawyers who must defend the government in court.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “Attorney General Pam Bondi [on] Friday ... appeared to foreclose the possibility of a Justice Department investigation into the [top administration officials' use of Signal for sensitive discussions]. 'Those cases would have to be referred to me. They have not been referred to me,' Bondi said, speaking at an unrelated news conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She referred to reports Thursday that the Pentagon’s inspector general will launch his own internal review, and she repeated denials by top officials that the material at issue was classified.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I found this report confusing. The IGs report to their department heads, but according to their own FAQ page, the agency head can't prevent them from conducting an audit or an investigation. Therefore, Bondi has no control over the Pentagon IG's investigation nor indeed over any investigation the DOJ's IG might choose to conduct.

It turns out that RFKJ is as big a liar as his boss. Very impressive: ~~~

~~~ Adam Cancryn of Politico: “When HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday that he planned to rehire 20 percent of the employees he’d just terminated, he insisted such a move was 'always the plan.' Turns out, it wasn’t the plan at all. HHS has no intention of reinstating any significant number of the staffers fired as part of a mass reduction-in-force on Tuesday, despite Kennedy’s assertion that some had been mistakenly cut, a person familiar with the department’s plans told Politico. The layoffs eliminated roughly 10,000 jobs across HHS, gutting several public health offices and purging prominent senior scientists from the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health. They came after the department had already jettisoned 10,000 people who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers encouraged by the Trump administration.... The chaos has deepened concerns about HHS’ ability to function under Kennedy’s leadership, prompting criticism from public health experts and industry officials and fueling fears that the cuts will weaken the nation’s defense against a range of health threats.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One thing nobody seems to mention is that the drastic cuts in services across the federal government will do very little (or nothing) to reduce costs to taxpayers (and others). First, of course, is the fact that employee salaries are a small part (less than 5 percent) of federal expenditures. But some of the services the feds have provided for decades are so important or necessary or popular that other entities will try to fill the gap. When those other entities are state or local governments, taxpayers will pay for them. And there's a good chance that it will cost more to start up these new local facilities, & to run multiple new agencies to do the same thing that the feds had mastered as a one-stop-shop. Private groups -- foundations, charities, churches -- may take up some of the slack, and somebody has to fund those groups and do that work. The Trump/Musk "efficiencies" and not at all a boon to the taxpayer; the only beneficiaries will be those like Trump & Musk and their cronies who corruptly benefit from the ruse.

Margot Sanger-Katz & Rebecca Robbins of the New York Times: “The Trump administration on Friday rejected a Biden plan that would have required Medicare and Medicaid to cover obesity drugs and expanded access for millions of people. Under the law that established Medicare’s Part D drug benefits, the program was forbidden from paying for drugs for 'weight loss.' But the Biden administration’s proposal last November had attempted to sidestep that ban by arguing that the drugs would be allowed to treat the disease of obesity and its related conditions. Expanding coverage of the drugs would have cost the federal government billions of dollars. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the federal expense would amount to about $35 billion over 10 years. The decision announced Friday was part of a larger 438-page regulation updating parts of Medicare’s Part D drug benefits and Medicare Advantage, the private insurance plans that about half of Medicare beneficiaries now use.”

Zach Montague of the New York Times: “A federal judge permanently barred the Trump administration on Friday from limiting funding from the National Institutes of Health that supports research at universities and academic medical centers, restoring billions of dollars in grant money but setting up an almost certain appeal. The ruling by Judge Angel Kelley, of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, made an earlier temporary order by her permanent and was one of the first final decisions in the barrage of lawsuits against the Trump administration. But it came about in an unusual way: The government asked the court to enter that very verdict earlier on Friday so it could move ahead with an appeal. The decision nonetheless was an initial win for a diverse assortment of institutions that conduct medical research. After the Trump administration announced the policy change in February, scores of research hospitals and universities issued dire warnings that the proposal threatened to kneecap American scientific prowess and innovation, estimating that the change could force those institutions to collectively cover a nearly $4 billion shortfall.”

⭐Senate Passes Screw-You Budget Blueprint. Catie Edmondson & Maya Miller of the New York Times: “The Senate approved Republicans’ budget blueprint just after 2:30 a.m. on Saturday to clear the way for passing ... [Donald] Trump’s domestic agenda, after Democrats forced an overnight session to protest the G.O.P. push to deliver what the president has called 'one big beautiful bill' of spending and tax cuts. The 51-to-48 vote, mostly along party lines, was a crucial step in the Republican effort to fast-track budget legislation through Congress and shield it from a filibuster through a process known as reconciliation. Disagreements between Republicans in the House and the Senate about what should be in that bill had paralyzed them for weeks, but they have forged a fragile and complex compromise allowing them to move forward. Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine were the only Republicans who voted to oppose the measure. The budget blueprint goes next to the House, which must adopt it before lawmakers in both chambers can set to work drafting the legislation laying out the specific tax and spending cuts they want to enact.... The budget resolution itself leaves big questions unresolved.” ~~~

     ~~~ During the vote-a-rama that preceded passage of the blueprint, all of the Democrats' amendments failed. But “Senators did vote 51 to 48 to adopt an amendment offered by [Dan] Sullivan [R-Alaska]vowing to protect Medicare and Medicaid.” The AP's report is here. ~~~

~~~ The budget plan passed only because of a tremendous stunt Senate GOP leadership pulled: ~~~

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “... as ... Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader..., maneuvers to push through ... [Donald] Trump’s domestic agenda, including a huge tax cut, he is making an end run around the filibuster through procedural sleight of hand, alarming members of both parties.... At issue is the Republican use of a complex process known as budget reconciliation to try to deliver trillions of dollars in tax cuts later this year.... It is the only way to shield major legislation from a filibuster....But the exception is intended to be narrow. In exchange for filibuster protection, lawmakers must follow a rigorous set of budgetary rules meant to ensure that the legislation in question will not add to the deficit.

“The Senate parliamentarian is in charge of interpreting and enforcing those rules, and ordering lawmakers to strip out any provisions that do not comply. But this year, Senate Republicans are saying they will rely on their own interpretation of the budget rules where it concerns their tax cut plans, sidestepping the parliamentarian altogether. They are doing so in order to claim that extending tax cuts enacted in 2017 and set to expire at the end of this year, a move estimated to cost about $4 trillion over a decade, would actually cost nothing because the tax cuts are already in place.” Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: describes the GOP attempt to hide the ball as “Orwellian”: “[Trump's tax] cuts are very expensive. Not only do they include extensions of the 2017 tax law provisions (set to expire this year), but they also lower corporate rates as well as carveouts for tips, auto loan payments and other goodies. In total, Trump’s preferred tax agenda could cost between $5 trillion and $11 trillion over the next decade.” Rampell puts the blame not on Thune but on Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Budget Committee and who claims to have magical super-arithmetic powers to determine the baseline budget.

Marie: Did you think big law firms might be headed by cynical, oneygrubbing, amoral cowards? You know, like the stereotypical ones you see on teevee? Well, yes, yes, they are. ~~~

~~~ The Bigger They Are, the Harder Their Hearts. Ben Protess of the New York Times: “More than 500 law firms on Friday threw their support behind some of their embattled peers, declaring that ... [Donald] Trump’s recent crackdown on the law firm industry poses 'a grave threat to our system of constitutional governance and to the rule of law itself.' The firms, 504 in all, signed a so-called friend of the court brief that was filed on behalf of Perkins Coie, the first firm to receive an executive order restricting its business. Perkins Coie sued the Trump administration, and a judge has temporarily blocked the president’s order, which jeopardized its ability to represent government contractors and limited its access to federal buildings.... Not a single top 20 firm by revenue, as ranked by American Lawyer, signed [the brief], including Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins or Gibson Dunn. Yet in recent days, a few large firms did add their signatures, including Covington & Burling, No. 28 in American Lawyer’s rankings; and Arnold & Porter, No. 47. Two other big firms that received executive orders and are also challenging them in court, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block, also signed. All told, nearly 10 firms in the top 100 signed the brief. Other friend of the court briefs were also filed in support of Perkins Coie, including one signed by both the A.C.L.U. and the Cato Institute, the Washington-based libertarian think tank.”

Vimal Patel of the New York Times: “Former President Barack Obama urged universities to resist attacks from the federal government that violate their academic freedom in a campus speech on Thursday. He also said schools and students should engage in self-reflection about speech environments on their campuses.... In his remarks on Thursday, Mr. Obama also called on law firms, which have also faced threats from the Trump administration, to stand for their principles, even if they risked losing business. Mr. Obama told the crowd, which included college students, that everyone should stand up for the rights of others to say wrong and hurtful things.” Here's a video of a portion of President Obama's remarks. MB: I am distressed by his elder-statesman caution. Measured tones are fine, but the message should be forceful.

Philip Marcelo of the AP: “Prosecutors are seeking more than seven years in prison for disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos after he pleaded guilty to federal fraud and identity theft charges. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York argued in a court filing Friday that a significant sentence was warranted because the New York Republican’s 'unparalleled crimes' had 'made a mockery' of the country’s election system. 'From his creation of a wholly fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos’s unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enabled him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives,' the office wrote. Prosecutors also argued that Santos had been 'unrepentant and defiant' for years, dismissing the prosecution as a 'witch hunt' and refusing to resign from Congress as his web of lies was debunked.... A federal judge on Long Island is scheduled to decide Santos’ sentence during a court hearing April 25.” MB: Won't Trump pardon this obvious mini-Trump replica doll?

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New York. He Seems Nice. Santul Nerkar & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: “A violent felon whose sentence was commuted by ... [Donald] Trump was arrested Friday and charged with violating the terms of his supervised release after he was accused of a string of crimes that included assaulting a 3-year-old child. The man, Jonathan Braun, was arraigned in Federal District Court in Brooklyn before Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto. Prosecutors asked Judge Matsumoto that Mr. Braun be held indefinitely without bail. The judge, noting the violent nature of Mr. Braun’s accused repeated offenses, ordered that he not be released.... Mr. Braun ... appeared agitated throughout the proceeding. He complained about his legal representation and gave the middle finger to people sitting in the courtroom.... It was the fifth time that Mr. Braun had been arrested since Mr. Trump commuted his 10-year sentence just before leaving office in 2021, which was among a raft of last-minute clemencies granted to those with ties to the president. Mr. Braun’s sentence was commuted after his family used a connection with Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law who was a senior White House adviser, to get the matter before Mr. Trump....

[Besides making predatory loans that resulted in a $20 million FTC fine & a state ban from working in the cash-advance business,] Mr. Braun has also been accused of crimes that include swinging a pole that contained intravenous bags at a nurse; threatening a synagogue congregant who had asked him to stop talking during services; punching his wife and 75-year-old father-in-law; and grabbing a nanny’s breast as he touched himself.” MB: Poor Trump. The things he must do for the in-laws.

North Carolina. Eduardo Medina & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “In the prolonged legal battle over a North Carolina Supreme Court seat, a state appeals court panel ruled on Friday that tens of thousands of voters would need to promptly verify their eligibility or have their ballots thrown out. The decision could lead to the results of the November election being overturned. The ruling was a win for Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican who narrowly lost the election in November and challenged the result. His opponent, Justice Allison Riggs, is one of two Democrats on the seven-member Supreme Court. The case has tested the boundaries of post-election litigation and drawn wide criticism. Judge Griffin’s legal argument centers on a claim that some 65,000 people who voted early or by mail in the Supreme Court election did not provide required proof of identity — either the last four digits of a Social Security number or a driver’s license number — when they registered.” (Also linked yesterday.) The NBC News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Barring an act of consc[i]ence on the part of the Republican-controlled top North Carolina appellate court or the federal courts — LOL — this election will be outright stolen by retroactively changing the rules for one election held in North Carolina and none of the others."

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Ukraine, et al. Constant Méheut of the New York Times: “A Russian missile strike Friday on Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine [that is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky], killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 50, local officials said. It was the latest in a series of Russian attacks on urban centers in recent days that have caused significant civilian casualties despite ongoing cease-fire talks. Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih’s defense council, said on social media that five children were among the dead. He said the missile struck a residential neighborhood, with a playground nearby. Other officials warned the death toll could rise as rescuers continued to search the rubble for victims.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Russian War Crimes. Kim Barker of the New York Times: “In recent months, Ukrainian and international human-rights officials have accused Russian troops of executing Ukrainian soldiers who have surrendered instead of taking them as prisoners of war, as required under the Geneva Conventions treaties that outline how nations should treat enemy forces and civilians during armed conflict. A recent U.N. report decried an 'alarming spike' in Russian executions of Ukrainian prisoners. In December, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman office announced that 177 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been executed on the battlefield since the beginning of the war; of those, 109 were killed in 2024 alone. Russians have killed at least 25 additional Ukrainian soldiers since then, according to Artem Starosiek, who runs Molfar, a Ukrainian consultancy that supports the war effort and analyzed videos to come up with that tally. The Times could not independently verify that count.... Five Ukrainian drone pilots said in interviews that they had watched as drone videos showed their fellow soldiers surrendering, only to be killed. On Telegram, such videos have become commonplace.” (Also linked yesterday.)